


Ties (Affectionate)

by cminerva



Category: Ted Lasso (TV)
Genre: But also, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Socks (Platonic), Wedding Day, ties (affectionate)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28948098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cminerva/pseuds/cminerva
Summary: Sometimes straightening a tie was just straightening a tie and socks were just socks.  And sometimes they were ever so much more.Companion to Socks (Platonic).
Relationships: Keeley Jones/Roy Kent, Ted Lasso & Roy Kent
Comments: 20
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Myself](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myself/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Socks (Platonic)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28945380) by [cminerva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cminerva/pseuds/cminerva). 



> Okay first, I must insist that you all go watch The Client, starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Great, now that you've all done that you understand why (user) Myself and I get all flaily about small gestures and the significance of straightening someone's tie.
> 
> This is a follow up to Socks (Platonic) though it can stand alone. 
> 
> Thank you, thank you, thank you to the magnificent Myself for seeing me through two fics in one day, providing me with an excellent summary, for being the Ted to my Beard, the Beard to my Ted, and for over a decade of these kinds of shenanigans.

Roy stood in the darkened wings of the stage, completely still. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears but he felt oddly empty. After all the years of playing football, the thrill, the fight, the roar of the crowd and the satisfaction in his own mind after every win, after every honorable loss, this was it. A fucking auditorium full of journalists and a stiff suit. The Great Roy Kent, retired.

He could smell Keeley’s fruity shampoo before he felt her beside him. He could barely see her features but her glittery eyeshadow glinted in the narrow beam of light coming through the curtains. It soothed him somehow. Her bright makeup cutting through the literal gloom around him; it was fitting.

Keeley leaned into his arm, her slight weight and soft curves pressed against him making him smile slightly. This final send off was just a formality. He was already retired and shitty as it was to know he didn’t have a choice in the matter, he was happy with his life outside of football. He never would have imagined such a thing, but it was true.

An aide stepped around the curtain to signal that he was on soon. Keeley stepped in front and tugged on the lapels of his suit jacket, drawing his attention away from the impending ceremony and back to her.

“You’re gonna be alright, yeah?”

He nodded, unable to form the words that he wanted to say. _I’m good. Thank you. I love you._

Keeley smiled and swallowed, then pressed her fingertips just under the knot of his tie, adjusting it slightly. Roy looked down in surprise; Keeley wasn’t usually one for small gestures. He saw the tears glinting in her eyes and she smiled again, a little sadly this time.

“I’m proud of you,” she whispered. Roy’s throat tightened but he was pulled away as the aide frantically waved him over. It was time.

Another stiff suit, another heart stopping day that Roy had never thought would come. The blood was pounding in his ears, but this time the emptiness was replaced with a kind of elation he had only ever experienced after a championship win. And nerves, nerves like he was starting his first game in the Premier League. Only worse, because this time he wasn’t a teenager full of barely earned confidence and an ego the size of Russia. No, now he was an old has-been of a footballer, his ego worn down to a manageable size, his confidence earned now but hardly what was keeping him upright.

Roy glanced in the mirror and tugged at his tie, making a mess of things in his anxious state. He knew he would feel better if Keeley were here; her raunchy jokes and bright colors and soft smile would put him at ease and everything would be fine. But that wasn’t an option, not today.

Who would have thought that Keeley Jones, unabashed former nude model, party girl, a woman who had been living with her ex-footballer boyfriend for years now, would care about stuffy wedding traditions? But she did, as Roy had quickly found out after proposing. Her oversized pink diamond ring was apparently the only non-traditional bit of the whole spectacle. Roy didn’t mind, not when he was ready to give Keeley anything she could ever ask for, but now that the wedding day was here he was wishing she had skipped the bit about not seeing each other before the ceremony. He had missed her last night, and it was strange not to see her this morning when she was now the one he wanted to see every morning, and especially on a day as important as this one.

Instead he saw Ms. Welton, or Rebecca as he was to call her. She had insisted that he use her first name now, especially as she was standing up with his bride. She had brought Roy a sweet note from Keeley, along with the message that Rebecca was to kiss Roy thoroughly on Keeley's behalf, a directive they both ignored. Roy appreciated her popping in and looking after Keeley when he wasn’t permitted to see her, but Ms. Wel- Rebecca still felt very much like his boss. She also didn’t seem like the comforting type so, after assuring her he was fine, he sent her back to Keeley’s suite.

Less than half an hour to the ceremony and nothing to do except hide in the hotel room; Roy was ready to climb the fucking walls. A knock at the door was a welcome surprise. It was Ted, newly returned from a mysterious set of errands that Keeley - by way of her messenger, Rebecca - had insisted were necessary.

“How’re you holding up?”

Roy let out a heavy breath.

“Feel like I’m gonna puke,” he said, blunt and honest. “Keeley’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m the one that asked her to marry me, but I feel like I’m gonna come out of my skin.”

Ted chuckled.

“Yeah that sounds about right.”

“Did you feel this way before your wedding?” Roy winced after the words were out of his mouth. “Sorry, that might have been a shit thing to bring up.”

“No, no, no, you’re alright,” Ted said. “I was just as nervous as you. Heck, Beard nearly had to tie me to the church altar to keep me from running away.”

“Do you regret it?” Roy asked, watching Ted’s face. “Knowing how it all turned out?”

Ted smiled.

“Not for a second. There are things I’d do differently. Maybe we coulda gone to counseling sooner. Then again, maybe we would have ending things sooner if we had. No, I think everything happened like it was meant to. And even knowing where we are now I still woulda taken those vows. Because I meant 'em, every one.”

Roy nodded.

“Thanks for, you know,” Roy gestured between them before finally spitting it out. “For standing up with me today, for being here. For being a friend to me and Keeley. All of it.”

“It’s my honor,” he told him, and Roy could see he meant it. Ted smiled then looked down at his watch. “According to the very thorough schedule provided to me by your lovely bride, it is now time for us to head to the ballroom for the ceremony.”

Roy nodded and tugged on the hem of his suit jacket, swallowing heavily.

“Alright then, let’s do it.”

Ted clapped Roy on the shoulder as they headed to the door. “I got your back,” he told him, then he grinned and leaned down to tug at his dress pants. “And your socks!”

Roy stared at the bright purple socks covered with pink bouquets and laughed.

“Did Keeley give you those?”

Ted frowned.

“The card said they were from you both.”

Roy shook his head and leaned to the side to tug on his own dress pants, revealing a matching pair of vivid purple and pink socks.

“Looks like she got us a matching set.”

Ted grinned. “I like that.” Roy nodded and allowed himself one more grin over this moment that Keeley had orchestrated for him before squaring his shoulders and striking out for the hotel ballroom.

The ballroom was draped in dark pinks and purples and rich blues with bright flowers bursting from every flat surface and tied to the chairs at the end of every aisle. Roy looked around and nodded, impressed with Keeley’s work, filled with pride at the way she seemed to bring beauty to the world so effortlessly. He saw familiar faces in the crowd but he couldn’t give two shits about any of them just now, not when there was only one face he wanted to see.

Roy turned suddenly to look at Ted and stuck out his hand between them. Ted looked down in surprise then clasped Roy’s hand in his. He smiled then reached up with his left hand and gently pushed Roy’s tie into place. Ted’s eyes were wet and the younger man had to turn away before he lost his composure in front of the whole room. He heard Ted laugh quietly behind him and smiled in spite of himself.

The minister they’d hired joined them at the front and asked if he was ready. Roy nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He had no idea how he was supposed to say his fucking vows when the time came. He was going to make a right fucking idiot of himself when he had to open his mouth, that was for sure.

Before he knew what was happening, Rebecca was walking down the aisle, looking very nice and much more at ease than he’d ever seen her. She gave him a warm smile and a wink; perhaps she was good at comforting after all.

And then none of it mattered, not the tight collar of his dress shirt or the nerves or the fact that he’d likely mangle the vows. There was only Keeley. Keeley, who was more radiant and beautiful than he’d ever seen her and yet somehow exactly the same as she always was.

Roy was sure he hadn’t moved or made a sound and yet Ted seemed to know he was about to fall over with all the emotion seemingly coursing through him because a gentle hand was suddenly pressed against the middle of Roy’s back. It was just for a moment, but somehow that was enough.

Roy straightened his shoulders and offered Keeley his arm as she stepped up onto the little stage.

“Alright, Roy?” she whispered, winking at him as they moved to stand in front of the minister.

Roy looked down, marveling at her, at him, at the two of them standing there together.

“Yeah,” he told her.

And it was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really thought I was going to hop onto tumblr and post a list of bullet points outlining some of my thoughts on a Roy/Keeley wedding day. After a full page of notes, which were quickly becoming more story-like, I finally admitted that I was writing a follow up to Ties (Affectionate). So while (user) Myself does an "I told you so" victory lap, please enjoy this glimpse into the wedding ceremony and reception I've imagined for Roy and his bride.
> 
> Many thanks to (user) Myself for their excellent notes and thoughts!

Roy did _not_ mangle his vows, though he was sufficiently distracted by his bride’s face smiling up at him as he repeated the lines provided by the minister that he had to be prompted to continue more than once . He was saved from total embarrassment by the fact that Keeley clearly didn't care one bit how long it took him to get through the words. 

While Roy didn’t cry during his vows, he lost his composure completely when Keeley recited hers. So much so that Ted had to reach over his shoulder to hand him a handkerchief. It didn’t help that he caught Rebecca crying too. Phoebe - serving double duty as flower girl and ring bearer and looking quite pleased with her poofy pink princess dress - looked up at her crying uncle and shook her head despairingly. 

Rebecca and Ted caught each other's eyes and tried hard not to laugh when they heard Higgins sniffle throughout the service. Their weepy friend held tight to his wife’s hand as he was overcome by the emotions and significance of the day. Beard cried too of course, though silently and with great dignity. He drew a lot of interested looks from the single guests at the wedding, which surprised no one at all. Nate was beaming, in love with love and full of joy for his friends. To Nate’s great surprise, he didn’t cry at all throughout the service or reception but as he had come prepared with pockets full of handkerchiefs and tissues he had plenty to pass around throughout the service to the others crying around him. (His obvious affection and care for his friends - not to mention his sharp suit - drew the attention of one of Keeley’s model friends and Nate left reception with her phone number programmed into his phone.)

Roy and Keeley’s first kiss as husband and wife got a loud whoop from the crowd, in part because Keeley’s hands went straight for Roy’s ass. After turning to acknowledge their guests Keeley flung her arms around Rebecca and to everyone’s surprise, including his own, Roy pulled Ted into a quick hug before reclaiming his wife’s hand.

  
  


The banquet hall was just as lovely as the ballroom and it quickly became loud and rowdy as the guests began to mingle and greet one another. Roy finally took notice of the guests; his former teammates were greeted with gruff hugs, and even Jamie, who had agreed to join them, received a warm handshake from the beaming groom. Roy was smiling and effusive throughout the evening and while some of the guests were a bit alarmed at this change, others (Ted and Rebecca among them) didn’t seem surprised at all. His yoga friends were all there - Maureen had even brought a date - and they showered the bride and groom with kisses and excited chatter over the day. 

  
  


Keeley had always loved weddings but had never expected to have one of her own; she couldn’t see herself marrying any of the people she dated before meeting Roy. When he proposed she asked if he would mind a big, traditional kind of wedding and when he promised she could have any kind of wedding she wanted so long as it ended with her as his wife, Keeley wrote down every tradition she’d ever longed for and went about making them all happen. 

Some traditions were skipped altogether - Keeley didn’t need anyone to walk her down the aisle and she could give her own damn self away - while others required a little creativity to make them work. Keeley hadn’t spoken to her father since he called her a series of awful names following her first topless modeling gig. Needless to say he wasn’t asked to attend the wedding, nevermind a first dance with the bride. Still wanting a special dance for herself, Keeley found someone better. Ted was more friend than father figure, but he was _someone’s_ dad and he had been there for her and Roy as family the way her father never could be. Ted had cried when she asked him to share that dance with her, and again when Roy had asked him to stand as his best man; Roy reflected later that it had probably been too much to spring both requests on him on the same night.  
  


Keeley surprised Roy with a groom’s cake made up to look like the Richmond crest and the whole team gathered around for a photo before Roy cut into it. He had expected to feel out of place among the former teammates who continued to play without him, but Roy found that there was no room for uncertainty or discomfort with so much joy filling him and the team treated him as if he had never left. More than one of them called him “captain” over the course of the evening and Roy felt a rush of gratitude and affection for his old teammates each and every time.

The DJ they had hired for the evening got some help from Beard and they kept the room loud and the guests dancing. Higgins and his wife were downright indecent on the dance floor, which earned them an approving nod from Roy who felt very approving of everyone and everything today.

Roy danced with his bride when she asked, though she was happy to dance with her friends when she could tell his knee needed a break. When he wasn’t dragged into a clump of footballers or yoga ladies and plied with drinks, Roy was happy to sit at a table in a quiet corner and let Keeley feed him bites of cake. 

  
  


The party was still in full swing close to midnight when Keeley met Roy’s eye across the room and gave him a smile, cocking her head to the side as if waiting for a response. He nodded his understanding and went in search of Ted and Rebecca, pulling them away from other guests to say a private goodbye.

Rebecca surprised Roy by pulling him into a tight hug, though his surprise faded when she gave him a whispered command to take good care of his new wife. He pulled away and met her gaze, nodding solemnly. Then there was another hug from Ted (Roy wondered how quickly he would regret introducing that to their relationship) and when Rebecca finally detached herself from Keeley’s embrace and pushed her into Roy’s arms, the newly married couple made their escape.

Keeley held tight to Roy’s hand as they moved through the halls of the hotel, both laughing a little as they kept an eye out for any guests who might stop them for a chat. When they finally made it to the door of their suite, Keeley pulled Roy close and kissed him. She was grinning when she pulled away, holding up the room card she’d snuck from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. 

“It’s been quite a long night,” she said in a serious tone, though there was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes that Roy knew well. “I think we’ll need a good night’s rest before we can consummate this marriage.”

“Yeah, fuck that,” Roy said, snatching the key from her hand, swiping it against the lock and wrapping an arm around Keeley’s waist to drag her inside the suite, her delighted laughter putting a smile on his lips as he kicked the door shut behind them.

The newlyweds only managed one round of wild sex that night (it _had_ been a long night after all) but that was quite alright; they had the rest of their lives together, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't cover every possible moment or spend time with each guest, so please drop your wedding headcanons in a comment! What was your fave up to? Did they cry? Who did they dance with? Who caught the garter? (Nate) Who caught the bouquet? (Sassy pushed Rebecca into it its path.) Did they get any random wedding gifts?


End file.
